Planetarium and Digital Dome

Iziko’s enriching and enabling education programmes include Planetarium edu-tainment for diverse school groups and audiences.

The programmes endeavour to develop the full potential of learners. They include lessons, workshops, teacher enrichment programmes and educational projects aimed at adding value to classroom practice, as well as special needs activities and educational resources.

See below for a series of Planetarium and Digital Dome events and resources!

Sky Map

The centre of the map is the overhead point, the edge is the horizon. To use the map, hold it up in front of you and rotate it to match the direction you are looking (e.g. hold it upside down when you are looking south). Do not lay it flat on a table or the points of the compass will be the wrong way round.

April 2025:

As we head towards cooler nights in South Africa, Orion (hunter) sets earlier in our evening skies, a few hours after sunset. From Orion, follow the path of the Milky Way beyond Sirius, the brightest star in our night sky (in Canis Major, big dog), towards Vela (sail) directly overhead. Between Vela and Carina (keel) lies the False Cross, not to be confused with the Southern Cross further south-east. The Southern Cross also includes the Pointer Stars; Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri. The former is a triple star system, which includes Proxima Centauri: the closest star to Earth, after the Sun.

Low in the south-east, the Winter constellation Scorpius (Scorpion) returns to our early evening skies. In the south, look out for our neighbouring galaxies, the Small (SMC) and Large Magellanic Clouds (LMC). Using binoculars on the southern edge of the SMC will reveal the spectacular globular cluster 47 Tucanae, which contains about half a million stars tightly bound together by gravity.

A waxing crescent moon welcomes us at the start of April, building up to the Full Moon (the ‘Diamond Moon’) on 13 April. On 16 April just after 23:00 SAST, the Moon will occult (move in front of) Antares, the heart of the scorpion (a bright double star system in Scorpius). Mars (in Gemini) and Jupiter (in Taurus) remain brightly visible throughout the month.

Download the April Sky Map HERE.